Death to “not un-“

One can cure oneself of the not un- formation by memorizing this sentence: A not unblack dog was chasing a not unsmall rabbit across a not ungreen field.

George Orwell

• “It’s not unlike…” ➡️ “It’s like…” or “It’s similar to”
• “That’s not uncommon…” ➡️ “That’s somewhat common” or “That’s not rare”
• “The attempt wasn’t unsuccessful.” ➡️ “The attempt wasn’t a failure” or “was successful”
• “That point isn’t unimportant.” ➡️ “That’s an important point.”
• “I’m not unaware of that.” ➡️ “I’m aware of that.”
• “Her statement wasn’t unkind.” ➡️ “Her statement wasn’t mean.”
• And so on.

Just a pet peeve of mine ever since I read that Orwell quote forever ago. Now you get to be bothered by it too! Congratulations!